The Key Language Use Oral Assessment Template is designed to accommodate students with a variety of English language proficiency levels: a script is created, which can be modified according to student needs and utilized with beginners or newcomers. As students practice their oral explanations with partners, the teacher provides constructive feedback. Once students have been allotted sufficient practice time, the teacher audio records oral explanations as each student is prompted with cue cards while referencing the infographic (Figure 4). Finally, the teacher transcribes and guides student analysis of oral response transcripts, which are analyzed during self-assessment to identify strengths and areas for improvement in future assessments.
As previously mentioned, explanation also includes causal phenomenon, which follows a timed sequence, and contains its own innate language features (Derewianka & Jones, 2006). The goal of the Key Language Use Assessment on Earthquakes (Table 5) was to enable students to use the academic and content vocabulary while empowering them to participate in academic conversations. Causal explanation requires students to demonstrate understanding of how a phenomenon occurs, which, in the case of earthquakes, produces certain effects. The oral assessment allows for a check for understanding of the content through language, at a range of English language proficiency levels. The design process of this oral assessment is divided into three focus areas. First, it includes various forms of content and language input: a text, an infographic, a predetermined academic vocabulary list, and a language focus. Second, it provides multiple scaffolds to enable student success: an anchor chart, cue cards, sentences frames, and a script. Lastly, it models an instructional plan that aligns and culminates with the assessment itself: rehearsal, recording, and self-assessment.
Table 5. Key Language Use Assessment on Earthquakes
Grade level | 4th grade ESL LA and science content |
Curricular Unit Topic | Earth's Systems: Processes that Shape the Earth |
Essential Question | How does an Earthquake happen? |
Key Language Use | Explain a causal phenomenon |
Text/source | Steps of Earthquake formation |
Illustration/diagram/infographic | “Steps of Earthquake Formation” Diagram |
Academic vocabulary | Crust, Energy, Slide, Glide, Knock, Plates, Fault lines, Seismic Waves |
Language focus | Present tense verbs mini-lesson |
Transition word list | Explain steps in a sequence - Transitional Words |
Anchor chart/digital | The steps of a complete explanation (See below for digital anchor chart) |
Cue cards | Structure words + vocabulary + transition words |
Sentence frames/script | Script (see below) |
Rehearsal | Partner practice with image and cue cards. Teacher provides constructive feedback. Do multiple attempts. |
Recording | Voice Recorder Classmate assists with cue cards during recording. Student looks at the image while speaking. |
Students will record using their Chromebooks during their “Speaking Center” (ESL rotation/ center model). They will use their headphones with a microphone. |
Self-assessment | - The teacher will transcribe the recording and ask students to check their work (highlight/ circle) if they have all the required steps with a checklist.
- Success, 1 Need to improve and 1 Goal.
|
Rubric for evaluation | WIDA Speaking Rubric |
Figure 6: Anchor Chart for Explanation
The inclusion and balance of these three focus areas allow the assessment to be used for multiple proficiencies and learning modalities (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and interactional) present in a classroom. Students view, listen, discuss and use manipulatives throughout the process.
The anchor chart (see Figure 6) on the key language use of explain not only defines what the concept is, but provides a methodological approach to an explanation by giving four steps that must always be included. This assessment design shows an integrated approach to academic content and language to promote oral language development towards proficiency.
The anchor chart (Figure 6) utilizes multiple scaffolds such as sentence frames, visuals, and bolding of keywords to be accessible to all learners. With the same goal in mind, the script (see Figure 7) and cue cards provide a supportive framework for the students to demonstrate content mastery through targeted language construction.
Figure 7: Script for Newcomers
As educators work together to examine the 2020 WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, student performance needs to be at the forefront. The WIDA Key Language Uses are the cornerstone of this new framework. Instruction of multilingual learners will require a significant shift in the near future, with greater demands placed on the implementation of the WIDA Key Language Uses. We believe that tools like the Key Language Use Oral Assessment Template can develop students’ oral language proficiency in English while building success in scientific explanations, a task often featured in the ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 assessment.
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank Dr. Lynn Shafer Willner, WIDA researcher and lead writer of the WIDA 2020 English Language Development (ELD) Standards Framework, for her guidance and feedback during the writing of this article.